Walk-a-thon for childhood cancer Aug. 2

Thursday

Jul 24, 2014 at 1:29 PM

By Brandon Dumskybrandon.dumsky@examiner.net

On Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., a walk-a-thon will be held in Blue Springs to fight against childhood cancer.

The “Stomping Out Childhood Cancer” walk-a-thon, a benefit for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, is to be at the Vesper Field track, across from the Blue Springs Freshman Center, 2103 N.W. Vesper St. in central Blue Springs.

Participants are encouraged to walk as many miles or laps on the track as they like within the alloted time frame. Several other events will be offered, including a calk walk, raffle drawings for Kansas City Royals and Sporting KC tickets, as well as cupcake, lemonade and children’s activity booths. At the end of the event, pizza will be provided to all participants.

“Another raffle item will be an autographed soccer ball signed by the two Sporting Club KC team members who played in the World Cup,” said Ashley Gilbert, one of the coordinators of the event.

Registration for walkers is $15 per person. However, Gilbert said children who attend the event will be exempt from the registration fee.

To sign up for the walk-a-thon, visit the “Stomping out Childhood Cancer... One step at a time” event page on Facebook. The Facebook page provides the link to register for the walk-a-thon at eventbrite.com . For those who are unable to attend but still want to make a donation, visit https://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1116039 .

According to Gilbert, a University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing student, childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15. ALSF, a registered charity, emerged from a front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott to raise money to help find a cancer cure in 2000. The foundation has evolved into a national fundraising event and has raised more than $75 million toward Alex’s dream of finding a cure for cancer.